State GOP fight leaves Crist ally on the outs

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer succumbed to an intense intra-party civil war Tuesday and agreed to resign his post, accusing fellow Republicans of a scorched-earth campaign to oust him from power or "burn the house down" ahead of this year's mid-term elections.Greer cast himself as a casualty of the moderate-versus-conservative warfare that has consumed the state party since Charlie Crist was elected governor in 2006. And conservatives, unhappy about losing the state to Barack Obama in 2008 and Crist's embrace of the president's $787 billion stimulus package, were quick to cheer his resignation.

"I have never been a purist," said Greer, whose resignation is effective Feb. 20. "I believe our party stands for principles and values that should always allow everyone who has an interest in being a part of our party participate."Greer's detractors had called for his resignation for months over a host of alleged abuses, from lavish spending on limos and private planes to an alleged $4 million deficit (which Greer denied). The final straw may have been his decision to put the party behind Crist in his U.S. Senate primary contest with conservative former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

And the biggest loser Tuesday could well be Crist. Sagging in the polls even as Rubio is generating national publicity as an up-and-coming conservative, the governor now must confront grassroots activists who have enthusiastically backed Rubio without Greer to keep the party hierarchy in line.

In a party famous for its discipline, the schism was remarkable.

Last week, a dozen top GOP check-writers demanded that Greer step down before party cash dried up. On Monday, nine former Republican legislative leaders -- including former House Speakers Tom Feeney and Dan Webster -- demanded the same. Even Republican gubernatorial front-runner Bill McCollum had been quietly urging Crist's political team to part ways with Greer, several party insiders said.

McCollum seized on the news Tuesday to close ranks behind state Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville as a replacement. On Monday, Senate President Jeff Atwater had quietly named Thrasher to the state Republican Executive Committee -- making him eligible to run for election to the chairman's post next month.

Thrasher, a onetime House speaker turned lobbyist who won a Jacksonville-based state Senate seat in a special election last year, is a staunch conservative with deep roots on the party's right.

Dems weigh in

Democrats immediately questioned whether Thrasher could raise funds for the state party during the 60-day legislative session, when sitting lawmakers are banned from raising money. But a who's who of Florida's GOP elite quickly lined up behind him, including former Gov. Jeb Bush, incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, R- Winter Park, and future Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

Crist, who backed Greer to the end, also quickly endorsed Thrasher, saying "he will do a great job and I have great respect for him." Rubio, however, issued no statement.

For weeks, Greer's fight to keep power reflected both a struggle over the direction of the party and many party regulars' genuine dislike for Greer, a hand-picked Crist ally and former Oviedo City Council member who barely won the chairmanship in 2007 despite the governor's backing. His critics had planned an ouster attempt at the party's executive committee meeting this weekend in Orlando.

Critics said Greer ran an imperial chairmanship, ignoring suggestions from longtime GOP activists while spending lavishly on trips, parties and other perks. They complained he failed to manage his staff, did little to reach minority voters and fell short of fundraising goals.

But to many, the chairman's unforgivable sin has been his unapologetic support for Crist's U.S. Senate bid. Opponents say Greer should have remained neutral -- at least publicly.

Rubio is a favorite among many grassroots activists, who have long questioned Crist's conservative credentials. They say Greer's desire to clear the playing field for his friend -- and the man who made him state chairman -- gives Crist an unfair advantage.

"People don't see Greer showing a lot of independent leadership," said former Republican Congressman Lou Frey of Orlando. "They're asking who is he responsible to -- Charlie Crist or Republicans around the state?"

Toward the end, Greer heaped vitriol on those seeking to oust him -- accusing them of committing "libel" and "treason."

"These individuals who have turned their guns on fellow Republicans instead of defeating Democrats have done nothing to serve our party," Greer said Tuesday. "They have basically ... thrown everything up against the wall they can to either embarrass me or disrupt the Republican Party."

By now, the details of the GOP bloodletting are almost irrelevant. Republican voters may not know the particulars of the feud, but they're acutely aware of the impression it has created.

"They think everything is rotten in Denmark," said Jerry Buchanan, a longtime Orange County grassroots activist. "It's been very destructive."

Though Greer blamed the insurrection on Rubio supporters, others joined in, including GOP money men such as Mel Sembler, a former ambassador to Italy and longtime Crist supporter.

Former GOP Chairman Tom Slade called Greer's argument that his critics didn't want a broader party base "absolutely inaccurate."

"He was an incompetent manager with a huge sense of self-importance. It had nothing whatsoever to do with his philosophy of inclusion," Slade said.

Former House Minority Leader Curtis Kiser, a stalwart Crist supporter, said Greer first rubbed him wrong in 2007 when the state party began wading into local GOP primaries around the state.

In one case that particularly angered Kiser, a county commissioner in rural Jefferson County near Tallahassee was told by state GOP staffers in 2007 that he couldn't run for an open House seat in 2008 because the party already had a hand-picked candidate.

'Just appalling'

Coupled with what appeared to be lavish spending on limos, ritzy resorts and travel -- spending Greer said was necessary to raise money for the party -- Kiser said the image was too much to overcome for a party chairman who never fully sold himself to the GOP base.

"I'm one of the guys who remembers back in the 1970s driving around in my own car, spending my own money to elect Republicans," Kiser said. "Those things, the partying and limos, they were just appalling to us."

Even Greer supporters said Tuesday that it was more important to put the controversy to rest than to prove Greer right.

"We've got ground to make up. There's been enough wasted energy on this," said Republican National Committeeman Paul Senft, a Greer supporter from Polk County. "It doesn't matter who's right or wrong. We need to do what we're organized to do, and that's win elections."